A team of researchers has developed a green catalyst from cotton hulls that can dramatically improve the ability of ozone to remove stubborn organic pollutants from water. The study, published in Biochar, shows that a nitrogen-doped biochar catalyst called N-BC-800 can efficiently degrade N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, better known as DEET, a widely used insect repellent that is increasingly detected in rivers, wastewater, and other aquatic environments.

Soil acidification is a growing threat to food production, especially in intensively managed agricultural regions where repeated fertilizer use can gradually make soils more acidic, reduce nutrient availability, and increase the mobility of toxic metals. A new five-year field study published in Biochar shows that biochar may do more than simply neutralize acidic soils. It can help organize a coordinated recovery process across the entire soil ecosystem.

PPPL welcomes the arrival of the central magnet bundle for its National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade, a crucial step in resuming the device's research operations.

A new telescope technology — measuring just six millimeters in diameter — could improve how future space missions study and monitor the Sun while simplifying onboard hardware and reducing costs. The technology is built from a metasurface, which is a device engineered with nanoscale structures that manipulate light in unusual ways. In tests at the Dunn Solar Telescope in New Mexico, the metasurface captured scientifically meaningful data of the Sun's magnetic fields and sunspots.

SAN ANTONIO — June 10, 2026 — SwRI’s James Dante has been named a Fellow of the Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP) in recognition of his outstanding and significant contributions of academic, mentoring, technical, and policy efforts in the field of materials protection and performance. As a Fellow, Dante will serve as an advisor to the AMPP.

The deep sea is a unique ‘evolutionary engine’ with one of the richest and most unexplored sources of genetic diversity on Earth, according to a major new study that has assessed its potential to transform biotechnology and DNA sequencing technologies.

When comparing different types of antifouling paints against fouling on leisure boats, the results were the opposite of what many would expect. Of the paints tested, the biocide-free silicone paint worked best, and the paint marketed as environmentally friendly turned out to be extremely toxic. The study, led by Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, was conducted in Swedish, Danish and French coastal waters, and also showed that coatings with a low copper content can be just as effective as those containing more copper.

Pack enough string-like objects together, and they will begin to align with one another. But replace the strings with worms or bacteria living in your gut, and this self-organisation becomes much more difficult. A team of University of Amsterdam (UvA) researchers have demonstrated that activity can fundamentally alter one of the most important phase transitions in soft matter physics.